Contexts - Rough Guide to Fiji - page 310

In 1853, several disaffected chiefs and five hundred warriors rebelled at Kaba Point, a few
kilometres south of Bau, and stole the sails of Cakobau's prized 72-ton gunboat which he'd
recently acquired from the Americans. In retaliation Cakobau led a raid on Kaba, but the
heavily fortified stronghold proved resilient. In March the following year Cakobau's status
was further eroded by a devastating fire which destroyed many houses on Bau as well as his
sacred war temple. The chief took this as a sign that his gods had abandoned him.
On April 30, Cakobau received a letter from his old adversary, King George of Tonga, en-
couraging him to accept Christianity . After a long conversation with Joseph Waterhouse, the
resident Methodist missionary on Bau, he decided to lotu , or convert. There were so many
subsequent conversions throughout the islands that there were not enough missionaries to
baptize all the newly faithful, let alone instruct them in the scriptures. Such mass conversion
was a seismic social shift, necessitating not just the widespread acceptance of the Christian
God and the rejection of all other gods, but also the destruction of the temples and the cessa-
tion of cannibalism and widow strangulation.
In early 1855, Qaraniqio, chief of Rewa, died. Weary of war, the Rewans sued for peace.
Cakobau's other enemies, however, hearing of his abandonment of Fijian traditions, now ral-
lied at Kaba Point to wage war not only on Bau, but on Christianity. King George of Tonga
came to Cakobau's assistance with two thousand Tongan warriors led in part by Ma'afu ,
ruler over the Lau Group. Their intervention proved decisive, with the Tongans leading
the main assault and Bauan warriors holding back any retreat. After victory was assured,
Cakobau, keeping faith with his new religion, forbade celebratory feasting on his enemies.
With Rewa and Verata finally subdued, he arrogantly declared himself Tui Viti or King of
Fiji although it was to be years before the title was formally recognized.
The path to colonialism
It soon became apparent that King George's assistance in the Kaba victory had come at a
price - the control of northern Fiji. The Tongan prince Ma'afu had already established his
seat of power on Vanua Balavu in the Lau Group and was making steady inroads into the
province of Cakaudrove, hitherto home of Cakobau's strongest allies. Ma'afu, full of confid-
ence after his leading role in the assault on Kaba, now became a serious threat to Cakobau's
kingdom and over the nineteen years leading up to cession, the two chiefs battled indirectly
for absolute control over Fiji, with Ma'afu steadily gaining the upper hand.
The American claims
While dealing with the Tongans, Cakobau faced a new problem - a debt to the US Govern-
ment. Back in 1849 on Nukulau island off Suva, the house of John Williams , the US com-
mercial agent, had accidentally burned to the ground during US Independence Day celebra-
tions. What remained of his stockpile of supplies was subsequently ransacked by locals. Ever
since the fire, Williams had been pressing the US government to claim compensation from